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More Than Just A Game

Anant Singh is South Africa's most accomplished film
producers. He has been involved with films that include
Sarafina,
Cry the Beloved Country,
Red Dust,
I Capture the Castle and the Oscar-nominated
Yesterday.

His latest project is a film about Makana Football
Association, a football association who organised football leagues
while incarcerated as political prisoners by the apartheid South
African government on Robben Island. The film entitled,
More Than Just a Game is a docu-drama about the power that
football had on the island, giving hope and strength to its
imprisoned inhabitants. He took time to speak to
FIFA.com about the 90 Minutes for Mandela game and
his latest work

FIFA.com: How did you find out about this story?
Anant Singh: I was aware that the prisoners on
Robben Island played football from my trips there, post
Madiba's [Nelson Mandela's] release. However it was when
Chuck Korr, a sports historian, came to see me and gave me the
background of the details of the story that I really became excited
about it and felt that it was an important story to bring to the
big screen.

Why is this an important story to tell?
There were hundreds of people on the island, all
with a common cause - they were fighting for our freedom. They were
incarcerated on this island, which has the beautiful view of Cape
Town, the site of the seat of Parliamentary power of the
'white' minority.

Yet these important imprisoned people were able to try to live
their lives in dignity in the spirit of good human beings and for
people to come together as friends. A very difficult task under
tremendously difficult conditions. All they were trying to do was
to make South Africa a better place, a place for one man one vote,
and the most important aspect of this was that football became a
catalyst to this end.

What are the themes or messages you think this story will
convey?
On the Island (Robben Island), there were people of
different political convictions, different religious beliefs and
diverse ethnic backgrounds. They all banded together and tried to
survive, enduring some of the harshest conditions known to man,
using football as a means to build moral and mutual respect.

You have been involved in many movies and documentaries
about post-apartheid South Africa. What do you think is special
about the Makana Football Association?
The Makana Football Association is unique because
it existed in the confines of one of the most brutal prisons in the
world. We also produced a film on Robben Island called
"Prisoners of Hope" - about the 1 200 former political
prisoners, many of whom were football players, and the fact that
football was more than just a game was what appealed to us.

What have you learnt about the human spirit in your work
with film? How do you think football feeds into this idea?
Many of the films I have made uphold the highest
values of the human spirit. They show how human beings can prevail
under trying circumstances. Sport, and football in this case,
brings together people in a common quest while also upholding these
values and clearly illustrates that humanity can prevail.

You have had a lot of interaction with Nelson Mandela. Do
you think he would approve of and enjoy this film?
Mr. Mandela would certainly approve and enjoy the
film as it tells the story of football on Robben Island, an island
he spent 27 years on. There is a scene in the film where the
communal prisoners see their political leaders in the B Section
(the isolation cells for the influential political prisoners such
as Nelson Mandela) while playing football and begin interactions
with them. When the authorities found out that Mr Mandela and
others were watching the games, they built a wall to stop these
interactions.

Why do you think FIFA endorsed this movie?
The league on Robben Island was organised according
to FIFA rules. This is certainly an achievement as the prisoners,
researched the rules of FIFA and implemented them under harsh and
trying circumstances. It also embodies the spirit of FIFA's
objectives that there should be no racism in sport especially
football.

Why the title
More Than Just a Game? Did this have symbolic meaning for
you?
For the prisoners on Robben Island, the game was
survival. It gave them the ability to come together and be on the
field as friends and as colleagues even though they had different
political convictions. The value of football and the game on Robben
Island had a lot more at stake than any other activity.